Editorial Content for What Moves the Dead
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
If you have read Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s wildly popular MEXICAN GOTHIC, a slow-burn gothic horror featuring some dastardly mushrooms, T. Kingfisher’s WHAT MOVES THE DEAD may ring some bells. Read More
Teaser
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
Promo
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
About the Book
A gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” from Hugo, Locus and Nebula Award-winning author T. Kingfisher.
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
Audiobook available, read by Avi Roque
Editorial Content for Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
There are few people, even in today’s differently educated generation, who haven’t heard the name Joan of Arc. Although few solid facts are known about this early-15th-century peasant girl from the rural French village of Domrémy, her brief but radically unusual life (she didn’t even make it to age 20) has been celebrated in just about every existing art form, including poetry, novels, nonfiction, opera, painting, sculpture, film, video games, comic books and performance art. It’s a long list for any celebrity. Read More
Teaser
1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of Joan of Arc's life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.
Promo
1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of Joan of Arc's life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.
About the Book
“It is as if Chen has crept inside a statue and breathed a soul into it, re-creating Joan of Arc as a woman for our time.” —Hilary Mantel, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Booker Prize winner WOLF HALL
Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint? From the acclaimed author of MARY B comes a stunning, secular reimagining of the epic life of Joan of Arc.
1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries.
In Katherine J. Chen’s hands, the myth and legend of Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed and brilliant. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of her life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.
With unforgettably vivid characters, transporting settings and action-packed storytelling, JOAN is a thrilling epic and a triumph of historical fiction, as well as a feminist celebration of one remarkable --- and remarkably real --- woman who left an indelible mark on history.
Audiobook available, read by Hannah Morrish
Editorial Content for Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Sacrifice
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The woman traveling from Germany to Washington, D.C. under the name “Deborah Mueller” knew she was taking a serious risk. She was set to meet with someone in the shadow of the Washington Monument but instead met her end at the hands of a dark and dangerous stranger who was whistling the Beatles tune “I Should Have Known Better.” Read More
Teaser
Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous or as cruelly inventive as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon’s trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington --- and the body count rises with each deadly encounter. But who is Lennon working for? Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group’s agenda is a young German woman murdered in Washington on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman’s entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.
Promo
Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous or as cruelly inventive as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon’s trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington --- and the body count rises with each deadly encounter. But who is Lennon working for? Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group’s agenda is a young German woman murdered in Washington on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman’s entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.
About the Book
Jason Bourne tackles a global media conspiracy in the latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous or as cruelly inventive as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon’s trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington --- and the body count rises with each deadly encounter.
But who is Lennon working for? Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group’s agenda is a young German woman murdered in Washington on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman’s entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.
Finding the truth about this woman may be Bourne’s only chance to catch Lennon --- and uncover the conspiracy behind the Pyramid. But the chase comes with high stakes. Bourne’s former lover, journalist Abbey Laurent, is digging into the mystery too, and Jason’s perilous battle against Lennon and the Pyramid will soon put Abbey in the assassin’s crosshairs.
Bourne will need to use every bit of his tradecraft and his genius for mayhem to expose this web of lies and murder before Lennon kills the woman he loves.
Audiobook available, read by Scott Brick
Editorial Content for Our Wives Under the Sea
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Leah is a marine biologist. Her last expedition started the same way that any expedition would, but something went entirely wrong and her submarine ended up sinking to the very bottom of the ocean. After a long rescue, Leah finally returns to her dedicated wife, Miri. But Miri knows something is off; Leah doesn’t seem to be the same and has begun doing some weird stuff. And so OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA follows Miri as she attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to her wife during that emergency situation. Read More
Teaser
Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.
Promo
Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.
About the Book
Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.
By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us and the love that compels us nevertheless toward one another.
Audiobook available, read by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway
Editorial Content for Dead Against Her
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
DEAD AGAINST HER, the fifth installment in Melinda Leigh’s Bree Taggert series, is just as riveting and touching as the previous four. Bree is a tough female sheriff in a rural upstate New York community who was born to an abusive father. When her sister, Erin, was murdered, she returned to her roots to raise Erin’s children with the help of her now-retired ex-partner, Dana Romano.
"DEAD AGAINST HER fulfills readers' expectations on multiple levels: it's exciting, emotional and intellectually thoughtful."
Teaser
Called to an isolated farm to check on an elderly widow, Sheriff Bree Taggert finds a brutal double homicide. One of the victims is Eugene Oscar, the bitter and corrupt former deputy she recently forced out of the department. Working with criminal investigator Matt Flynn, Bree discovers that she isn’t the only one who had a troubling history with Eugene. But someone doesn’t want Bree digging up the past. She becomes the target of a stranger’s sick and devious campaign calculated to destroy her reputation, career, family and new relationship with Matt. To make matters worse, she’s the prime suspect in Eugene’s murder. When her chief deputy goes missing while investigating the case, Bree refuses to back down.
Promo
Called to an isolated farm to check on an elderly widow, Sheriff Bree Taggert finds a brutal double homicide. One of the victims is Eugene Oscar, the bitter and corrupt former deputy she recently forced out of the department. Working with criminal investigator Matt Flynn, Bree discovers that she isn’t the only one who had a troubling history with Eugene. But someone doesn’t want Bree digging up the past. She becomes the target of a stranger’s sick and devious campaign calculated to destroy her reputation, career, family and new relationship with Matt. To make matters worse, she’s the prime suspect in Eugene’s murder. When her chief deputy goes missing while investigating the case, Bree refuses to back down.
About the Book
Sheriff Bree Taggert’s downfall is part of a killer’s cunning design in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of murder, lies and revenge.
Called to an isolated farm to check on an elderly widow, Sheriff Bree Taggert finds a brutal double homicide. One of the victims is Eugene Oscar, the bitter and corrupt former deputy she recently forced out of the department.
Working with criminal investigator Matt Flynn, Bree discovers that she isn’t the only one who had a troubling history with Eugene. But someone doesn’t want Bree digging up the past. She becomes the target of a stranger’s sick and devious campaign calculated to destroy her reputation, career, family and new relationship with Matt. To make matters worse, she’s the prime suspect in Eugene’s murder.
When her chief deputy goes missing while investigating the case, Bree refuses to back down. She won’t let him become the next victim. His life and her future depend on finding a killer nursing a vengeful rage.
Audiobook available, read by Christina Traister
Editorial Content for The Murder Book: A Tom Thorne Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
There is nothing quite like a Tom Thorne thriller, and thankfully Mark Billingham has been providing us with them for the past two decades. The latest entry in the series is THE MURDER BOOK, and it brings back Thorne and his trusty band of colleagues to take on a case that could be the most personal one of his career. Read More
Teaser
Tom Thorne finally has it all. In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. His love life is newly reformed by a promising relationship, and he is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life. As he sets off hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. A nightmare that has a name. Thorne’s past threatens to catch up with him, and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he will have to do the unthinkable. Tom Thorne finally has a lot to lose.
Promo
Tom Thorne finally has it all. In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. His love life is newly reformed by a promising relationship, and he is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life. As he sets off hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. A nightmare that has a name. Thorne’s past threatens to catch up with him, and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he will have to do the unthinkable. Tom Thorne finally has a lot to lose.
About the Book
The latest thriller from international bestselling author Mark Billingham finds Tom Thorne settling into a newly content existence, but a spate of brutal murders sets him off on an investigation that may just shatter every happiness he has built.
Tom Thorne finally has it all.
In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. His love life is newly reformed by a promising relationship, and he is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life.
As he sets off hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. A nightmare that has a name. Thorne’s past threatens to catch up with him, and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he will have to do the unthinkable.
Tom Thorne finally has a lot to lose.
Audiobook available, read by Mark Billingham
Editorial Content for The Boys
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Ethan Fawcett, the narrator of Katie Hafner’s first work of fiction (after writing six nonfiction books), is the kind of guy who might be easily overlooked. He’s attractive enough, but he’s painfully, almost pathologically awkward. When he first goes out on a date with Barb, the woman he eventually marries, she confesses that she had a bet going with a coworker about whether or not he ever actually talked. Read More
Teaser
When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries fun-loving Barb, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan’s fears of becoming a father, Barb suggests they foster two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the boys. When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his boys are.
Promo
When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries fun-loving Barb, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan’s fears of becoming a father, Barb suggests they foster two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the boys. When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his boys are.
About the Book
A delicious summer read filled with humor and surprise for readers of Anne Tyler and Kevin Wilson.
When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries fun-loving Barb, so comfortable in the world, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan’s fears of becoming a father, Barb suggests they foster two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the boys.
When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his boys are.
Audiobook available, read by BJ Harrison
Editorial Content for The Binding Room: An Inspector Anjelica Henley Thriller
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
THE JIGSAW MAN, the opening installment in Nadine Matheson’s Inspector Anjelica Henley series, was a superior thriller and a serial killer novel that would make readers of Thomas Harris shiver. Her follow-up, THE BINDING ROOM, is an even more complex story in which two distinct and different themes are running through a mystery that turns into a potential serial murder investigation. Read More
Teaser
When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual. With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.
Promo
When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual. With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.
About the Book
When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.
With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.
Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.
Audiobook available, read by Diveen Henry
July 29, 2022
In an effort to ensure that I get more reading done in the pool, I bought a new float, which you can see above on the left. It has not been water-tested yet, so we shall see how this goes. My older reading float (pictured on the right) still is servicing me well, but I have had it for years and the nylon on the seat is starting to rip, which I saw as a sign. This one is much fancier, but it does not have cup holders. I know, how can one read and float without cup holders? Not that I ever put a drink in those cup holders! I will try not to hum the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island.”